Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $5.86 and last traded at $5.86, with a volume of 1746970 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $5.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on HNST shares. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Honest from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Northland Securities set a $5.50 price objective on Honest in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Alliance Global Partners reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Honest in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Freedom Capital upgraded Honest from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upped their price target on Honest from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.84.

Honest Stock Up 6.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $645.07 million, a PE ratio of -53.27 and a beta of 2.12. The business’s 50-day moving average is $4.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.41.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.03. Honest had a positive return on equity of 4.31% and a negative net margin of 3.56%.The company had revenue of $80.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.83 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Honest Company, Inc. will post 0.05 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Andrea Turner sold 34,396 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.30, for a total transaction of $182,298.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 282,304 shares in the company, valued at $1,496,211.20. This trade represents a 10.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Dorria L. Ball sold 6,812 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.99, for a total value of $33,991.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 418,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,088,734.16. This represents a 1.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 294,149 shares of company stock worth $1,503,306 over the last ninety days. 9.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Honest

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Honest during the 2nd quarter worth $25,662,000. Mak Capital One LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Honest in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,104,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Honest by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,323,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,996,000 after buying an additional 28,579 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Honest by 8.2% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,259,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,315,000 after buying an additional 171,425 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Honest by 796.2% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,006,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,177,000 after buying an additional 1,782,742 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.54% of the company’s stock.

About Honest

The Honest Company, Inc (NASDAQ: HNST) is an American consumer goods firm specializing in eco-friendly and responsibly formulated products for babies, personal care, beauty and home cleaning. The company emphasizes transparency in ingredient sourcing and product safety, positioning itself in the premium segment of mass-market retail and direct-to-consumer channels.

Honest was founded in 2011 by actress Jessica Alba and environmental health advocate Christopher Gavigan with a mission to offer parents household and baby care items free from harsh chemicals and synthetic fragrances.